Entertainment writer

Rico Rodriguez and Eric Stonestreet from Modern Family arrive in Queensland. Photo: Reuters

The Modern Family jaunt around Australia may have cost Qantas up to $4 million, amid claims staff fought to persuade bosses against footing the bill given the ailing airline's financial turmoil.

The television cast have been hosted by Qantas as they filmed a one-off special in Australia for the past two weeks, which is set to air before 125 million viewers worldwide.

But questions have been raised about the judgment of making such a significant financial outlay at a time when Qantas is facing record losses of $252 million and an expected 5000 job cuts.

Qantas has previously supported Australian specials of the Oprah and Ellen shows, both of which produced significant results for international visitors. Ellen DeGeneres' visit last year sparked a 22 per cent increase in inbound flights.

Advertisement

A Qantas spokesman dismissed the $3.7 million figure as ''grossly inflated'' and said a large part of the airline's contribution had been providing flights.

''We're very comfortable with the investment we've made and the return we're getting,'' he said.

''This is not exactly new territory for us and we know that exposure through things like Ellen andModern Family equals more visitors flying Qantas to Australia. It's a simple equation and it adds up.

“There are things we will need to cut back on as a business, but investing in Australian tourism and encouraging more people to fly here is key to running an airline."

Before the cast hit Australia two weeks ago, Qantas had spent almost $3 million on its Modern Family deal, splashing out another $700,000 while the production was here last month, a company source said.

The insider said the move had highlighted ''the mismanagement at the upper end of the organisation''. Internal memos had ''constantly'' been sent out warning against the investment but senior management had pushed ahead regardless.

''Unfortunately when people have the ear of the CEO [Alan Joyce], decisions have been made outside the message the rest of the organisation keeps getting,'' the source said.

ACTU secretary Dave Oliver slammed Qantas, saying: ''This is an example of why we want Qantas to look at all options to save costs rather than sack workers. Bringing Modern Family here resulted in Alan Joyce cutting how many jobs? Instead of worrying about Modern Family, Qantas should have been worried about the families of the 5000 workers they were about to sack.''

The airline flew the 80-strong cast and crew out from the US on a rebranded A380 called the Modern Family Flyer.

Qantas assistance in offsetting the hit show's production costs sealed the deal to bring it to Australia, after months of lobbying of the producers of the show by industry-government body AusFilm.

Modern Family, now filming its sixth season, is one of the most lucrative shows on US TV, with a 30-second advertising slot on the show costing about $280,000, bringing in more than $160 million in annual ad revenues to its network, ABC.

Tony Webber, a former Qantas chief economist and now associate professor at the University of Sydney's business school, said although the airline had cut hundreds of millions from its marketing budget in recent years, the cost of its Modern Family investment was five to six times the spend of a typical marketing campaigns.

''If you're losing $252 million a [half-] year, it seems to me to be relatively risky and irresponsible spending that much money,'' he said.